That one shouldn't speak ill of the dead is conventional wisdom but conventional wisdom usually turns out to be an oxymoron. And so the dead Benazir Bhutto is now the "former prime minister of Pakistan" rather than "the fugitive facing corruption investigations in Spain, Britain and Switzerland" that she was a fortnight ago.
Corruption aside, Bhutto showed a remarkably cavalier disregard for the lives of even her own supporters. Guns of any make, either genuine or cheap local rip-offs, are freely available in Pakistan. The use of bombs has also become more widespread.
So when Bhutto arrived back in Pakistan in October, rather than being whisked by helicopter amid tight security from the airport to wherever she needed to be, she had her party organisers bus in 200,000 people to the route from the airport so the world's television cameras could record her glorious return. The route was lengthened to heighten the drama of the procession.
It all served to give those with murderous intent greater opportunity. Bhutto was safe inside her bombproof vehicle. But outside, almost 140 of her supporters were blown to bits by two bombs and another 450 injured. Bhutto directed the blame to anyone but herself.
This recklessness extended to herself last week when, having been provided with a bulletproof car, she stood up through its sunroof on leaving a political rally - with predictable results. But martyrdom is a wonderful way to launder one's reputation. If saintliness is what you're after, then it's certainly a good career move - you can emerge a saviour unhindered by the practicalities of having to deliver, leaving your supporters to wistfully imagine what might have been.
Except that Bhutto was twice put to the test. Twice she was prime minister of Pakistan, twice she was shown to be a poor administrator and twice her government was removed for corruption.
Bhutto did have her plusses. She was a democrat. But politics in most of Asia is about power: getting it and keeping it. Rarely is it about policy. Bhutto liked democracy because it was the only means by which she could get into power. Her family was not a military family so a coup was out of the question.
And although from the province of Sindh, she clearly sought to represent and govern all Pakistan - her interest was in transcending ethnic and regional divides. She was a Pakistani above all, something few politicians in Pakistan actually are, or are seen to be.
The trouble is, she was most probably corrupt and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, definitely was. Bhutto made him a minister during her second term as prime minister. But once she was out of office, he was arrested on charges of organising the murder of Bhutto's brother, Murtaza, blackmail, the murder of a judge and his son, and corruption, for which he was jailed. He has always maintained that the charges were politically motivated, which undoubtedly they were. But the motivations of one's accusers do not change the facts of one's crimes.
A 1998 New York Times report claimed that Pakistani investigators had evidence that Zardari offered a contract to Dassault, a French aircraft maker, to replace the Pakistani Air Force's fighter jets, in exchange for a 5% commission to be paid to a Swiss corporation he controlled.
The same report also said Zardari had organised for a Dubai company to have the exclusive licence to import gold into Pakistan, for which he received more than $10 million in "fees". Other allegations relate to the purchase of 7000 tractors from a Polish company, for which the Bhuttos were allegedly paid a commission.
In 2003, a Swiss magistrate convicted Zardari and Bhutto, in their absence, of money laundering. They had accepted $US15 million in bribes from Swiss companies SGS and Cotecna to do customs inspections on goods imported into Pakistan. The couple had the Swiss companies pay 6% of the value of their contracts into Bomer Finance Inc and Nassam Overseas, two British Virgin Islands-registered companies with which they were linked. The two were sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to return almost $US12 million to the Government of Pakistan.
Bhutto appealed against the conviction on the basis that she had no knowledge of the payments despite having been shown to be a beneficiary of at least one of the BVI companies. The case is still under appeal. But why did Bhutto imagine she could be prime minister of a country of 160 million people if she could not even manage her husband? Either she was corrupt or incompetent, but probably both.
In 2004, Zardari admitted owning a £4.35 million estate in Surrey, England - that included a 20-room mansion - that the Pakistani authorities allege was probably bought with the proceeds of corruption in 1995. A British judge concurred.
In 2005, the Independent Inquiry Commission, led by former US Federal Reserve head Paul Volcker, named Petroline FZC among the companies to have breached UN sanctions by making illegal payments to Saddam Hussein's regime so it could trade in Iraqi oil. Documents suggest that Bhutto chaired the company. They might be fake but the company is connected to her associates. Spanish authorities are investigating the affairs of the company, which received $US2 million in illegal payments.
Anti-corruption officials with Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau claimed to have identified $US1.5 billion in the names of Zardari and Bhutto's mother - who has Alzheimer's disease - in Swiss bank accounts. And so, in 2006, Interpol issued a request for the arrest of Bhutto and her husband on corruption charges, on behalf of the Pakistani Government.
Did Pakistan really need a third Bhutto-Zardari prime ministership? Undoubtedly there will now be the movie and perhaps an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical (Don't Cry for me Pakistan). But at the end of the day, a thief in lipstick is still a thief.
The trouble is, she was most probably corrupt and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, definitely was. Bhutto made him a minister during her second term as prime minister. But once she was out of office, he was arrested on charges of organising the murder of Bhutto's brother, Murtaza, blackmail, the murder of a judge and his son, and corruption, for which he was jailed. He has always maintained that the charges were politically motivated, which undoubtedly they were. But the motivations of one's accusers do not change the facts of one's crimes.
A 1998 New York Times report claimed that Pakistani investigators had evidence that Zardari offered a contract to Dassault, a French aircraft maker, to replace the Pakistani Air Force's fighter jets, in exchange for a 5% commission to be paid to a Swiss corporation he controlled.
The same report also said Zardari had organised for a Dubai company to have the exclusive licence to import gold into Pakistan, for which he received more than $10 million in "fees". Other allegations relate to the purchase of 7000 tractors from a Polish company, for which the Bhuttos were allegedly paid a commission.
In 2003, a Swiss magistrate convicted Zardari and Bhutto, in their absence, of money laundering. They had accepted $US15 million in bribes from Swiss companies SGS and Cotecna to do customs inspections on goods imported into Pakistan. The couple had the Swiss companies pay 6% of the value of their contracts into Bomer Finance Inc and Nassam Overseas, two British Virgin Islands-registered companies with which they were linked. The two were sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to return almost $US12 million to the Government of Pakistan.
Bhutto appealed against the conviction on the basis that she had no knowledge of the payments despite having been shown to be a beneficiary of at least one of the BVI companies. The case is still under appeal. But why did Bhutto imagine she could be prime minister of a country of 160 million people if she could not even manage her husband? Either she was corrupt or incompetent, but probably both.
In 2004, Zardari admitted owning a £4.35 million estate in Surrey, England - that included a 20-room mansion - that the Pakistani authorities allege was probably bought with the proceeds of corruption in 1995. A British judge concurred.
In 2005, the Independent Inquiry Commission, led by former US Federal Reserve head Paul Volcker, named Petroline FZC among the companies to have breached UN sanctions by making illegal payments to Saddam Hussein's regime so it could trade in Iraqi oil. Documents suggest that Bhutto chaired the company. They might be fake but the company is connected to her associates. Spanish authorities are investigating the affairs of the company, which received $US2 million in illegal payments.
Anti-corruption officials with Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau claimed to have identified $US1.5 billion in the names of Zardari and Bhutto's mother - who has Alzheimer's disease - in Swiss bank accounts. And so, in 2006, Interpol issued a request for the arrest of Bhutto and her husband on corruption charges, on behalf of the Pakistani Government.
Did Pakistan really need a third Bhutto-Zardari prime ministership? Undoubtedly there will now be the movie and perhaps an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical (Don't Cry for me Pakistan). But at the end of the day, a thief in lipstick is still a thief.
www.michaelbackman.com
http://business.theage.com.au/corruption-shadow-casts-bhutto-in-a-different-light/20071231-1jo3.html?page=2
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